Installation

Apis AI runs on Linux and Windows. The native packages ship with a suitable Java runtime already included – the portable variant requires Java 21 or newer.

Prerequisites

Java Runtime 21+ (recommended: Java 25 / Eclipse Temurin) – only needed for the portable JAR variant. .deb, AppImage and the Windows bundle are ready to run.
For local models: a running Ollama instance (optional).
On Linux: a desktop with system tray support (StatusNotifierItem) if you want to use the background service.

Linux – APT Repository (Debian / Ubuntu)

The most convenient way. The GPG key is stored once, after which Apis AI updates along with every other package.

curl -fsSL https://apisclient.com/apt.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/apis-ai.gpg
echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/apis-ai.gpg] https://apisclient.com/ stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/apis-ai.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install apis-ai

Tip Once the repository is configured, sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade is all you need from then on.

Linux – Direct Downloads

Package	Description
.deb	Debian package for manual installation with `sudo dpkg -i` or `sudo apt install ./…deb`.
Tarball (.tar.gz)	Portable application including a bundled runtime – just unpack and start.

Windows

The Windows bundle is a portable ZIP structure including starter scripts:

Windows Bundle (.zip) – contains apis-ai.bat, apis-ai.vbs and apis-ai.ps1.
Executable (.jar) – cross-platform, start with java -jar apis-ai.jar.

To start it, simply double-click apis-ai.bat in the unpacked folder. Java 21+ must be installed.

Universal – JAR

The executable JAR runs anywhere Java 21+ is installed:

java -jar apis-ai-latest.jar

Note On the current build a warning may appear during native access. In the bundled start scripts --enable-native-access=ALL-UNNAMED is already set.

Flatpak (Manifest)

The project includes a Flatpak manifest under flatpak/. A finished Flatpak is not currently distributed via Flathub – the APT and direct downloads are the recommended routes.

Building from Source

For development and custom builds:

./gradlew run                                  # start the app (development)
./gradlew packageReleaseDeb                    # Debian package
./gradlew packageReleaseAppImage               # AppImage
./gradlew packageReleaseUberJarForCurrentOS    # executable JAR

Where Is My Data Stored?

All local data stays on your system – under ~/.config/apis-ai/ (Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.config\apis-ai\):

~/.config/apis-ai/
├── settings.json          # app settings (providers, parameters, language …)
├── conversations/         # chat histories
├── workflows/             # workflow definitions
├── runs/                  # workflow run logs
├── scripts/               # custom scripts
└── logs/                  # application logs

Uninstallation Remove the package (e.g. sudo apt-get remove apis-ai). The data folder ~/.config/apis-ai/ is preserved and can be deleted manually.